Theresa Vail Is America’s New Wonder Woman

She may be a beauty, but she’s no softy. Theresa Vail, who is the most intriguing contestant for Sunday’s 2013 Miss America beauty pageant in Atlantic City, can hang with the toughest of the tough. At only 22-years-old, she has accomplished more than most women do in a lifetime, and it is not only her beauty that has astounded everyone, but also her intelligence.

It is Vail’s outlook, and purpose of her own accomplishments, however, that makes her stand out as being extraordinary. In an interview with Fox News, yesterday, she said her message is to “empower women to overcome stereotypes and break barriers.” It is hard to imagine that there can be any barrier at all when a list of her achievements is on display.

The Miss Kansas contestant is not only a military sergeant, but she is also an archery expert, a skydiver, a boxer and part of the Kansas Army National Guard Medical Detachment. She also finds time to attend Kansas State University where she is a double major in chemistry and Chinese. That’s right – she speaks Cantonese too.

Vail has received a lot of attention recently for the two tattoos that she has. One is the Army dental insignia on her left shoulder-blade, and the other is the Serenity Prayer down the right side of her body. “There’s a big taboo in the pageant. Nobody shows their tattoos for fear of losing,” she told Fox News, and, ‘What a hypocrite I would be if I say, be all you can be, embrace your individuality, embrace your differences, break barriers if I couldn’t even do that myself.”

Vail told Fox News that the Serenity Prayer tattoo was a direct result of having been bullied constantly as a child. She said she was bullied so much that she almost took her own life. Obviously, Vail does not have to worry about getting bullied anymore.

The country’s biggest sports books have put Vail in the fifth-position to win the pageant at 15-1 odds. Miss Oklahoma is the current favorite to win at 13-2 odds.

“In my defense, I’ve never missed anything I’ve tried hitting,” she told Fox News, about her archery skills, and the fact that she is a crack shot marksman. We all believe that, and although she will be the first Miss America contestant to come out in a bathing suit that will expose tattoos, it remains to be seen if the pageant judges will penalize her for that.

It will also be interesting to see if Vail announces her support for The NRA while telling the world about herself.

It seems that whatever Theresa Vail decides to do she does well and, obviously, better than most people. So it may come as no surprise if Sunday night, she surprises us all…again.